Dissonance - Between Love and Passion
by Kuugen the Fox
Summary: Before the events of Dissonance, Love and Setsuna were traveling around the world. From Japan to the Philippines to Indonesia and finally Singapore, where this story ends, but their travels didn't. A short prequel to Dissonance.


"Love… Love, we need to get off." Setsuna shook her partner almost violently to wake her up. " **Love**! Donuts!"

Love jumped up from her spot in the back of the pickup truck that had carried them for the last six hours. It was still blazing hot and she felt gross, covered in sweat. "Donuts?"

"Love, the driver already got off. We're in Bandung."

"Ugh, it's so hot!"

Setsuna grabbed her kitbag, a large one that held four sets of her clothes, some hygiene articles and a handful personal belongings. Jumping off the back of the truck, Setsuna nearly stumbled from sitting around for so long. The wind from the drive had been enough to keep them somewhat cool, but it really was just unbelievably hot. _I knew Indonesia would be hot…_ _but the humidity is what is really bad. It's just like Japan, just a bit hotter. And it's like this all year round? I couldn't live here_.

Love jumped out right after her partner, realized she forgot her bag, crawled bag into the pickup and reached for her bag. "Where are we?"

"Bandung."

"That's not Jakarta." Love fished out her bag only to put it down on the ground and stretch. "I reek."

"We both… smell." Setsuna had grown used to the issues of traveling around. "Bandung is a big city near Jakarta. We're about three or four hours away, probably by car."

"How do you know?"

"I asked the driver."

"You picked up some… what do they talk here again?"

"Indonesian. I could barely manage _Jakarta, how far_ and he replied with something something 3 hours, 4 hours."

"That's my beloved Setsuna. I would be so lost without you."

Setsuna blushed a little. "Don't call me that in public. It's embarrassing!"

"Aw, come on. With how much you help me you might as well be my wife."

"We've only been dating for three months." Setsuna nodded towards the road. "Do you wanna stand in the sun and embarrass me or do you wanna get to town and find a place to stay the night?"

"I thought we were in town?" Love looked around and while there were some houses here and there, the paved road was the most civilized thing around them. Looking past the car, Love spotted the actual city. "Oh, there."

Getting to walking, Setsuna really wished her powers were somehow water related. _Using my Cure powers for something like a shower… I think Miki and Inori would get mad at me. But they're not the ones walking around in_ _smelly clothes._ "Love, we have still a good amount of money. We do have to look around for some work once we get to Jakarta or we won't have enough to get on a ship in Cilegon."

"I'm really not good with the language here, I hope I'm able to find something." Love slowly walked closer towards Setsuna until she was close enough that she could grab her hand. Switching the hand with which she carried her bag, Love grabbed Setsuna's free hand. "Hehe…"

Setsuna eyes Love for a few minutes before she couldn't help herself and smiled. "What are you smiling about?"

"Nothing!"

"Love."

"Just happy that I get to see the world with you. I mean, looking around, places like this? We would never see those if we just stayed in Japan. And you would never have seen them if you ."

"They did say in their last letter that they would write again once they have replaced the provisional government. I hope Westar and Soular didn't get themselves into trouble."

"They'll be fine. If we couldn't keep them down, nothing can."

"I'd rather not remember how often you girls foiled our plans."

"You make us sound evil somehow."

"You are quite the evil woman, Love. Keeping me from my people with your charming self."

"Why do I get the feeling that is not a compliment."

"It is! Kind of."

"Have you thought about what we're going to tell Miki and Inori when we get back?"

"I… figured you would handle that."

"I can, but don't you think you should tell them with me? Together? They're your friends, too."

"I'm closer with Miki than Inori, but you're right. It wouldn't be fair to have you tell them about us all alone."

"Maybe they already know. I did get the feeling that at least my mom kinda knew, right before we left."

"Your mother absolutely knew, Love. When we were at your place and I stayed over, she always looked at me with that knowing smile."

"What? This is the first I've heard of that!"

"I didn't tell you because you were totally oblivious to how obvious you were. And… it was kinda cute."

"This is bullying. I'm being bullied by my girlfriend!"

"Stupid Love." Setsuna bumped against her girlfriend with a grin. "I don't think Miki and Inori know, though. You didn't really have that glow of being in love with me when we were around them."

"I wonder why." Love bumped back into Setsuna and both of them started to giggle. "I'm glad you're here with me."

"Again with the sappy lines? You're gonna make me die by blushing." Setsuna looked away because she really felt embarrassed.

"I was really worried that you couldn't come with me. There was trouble with your paperwork, right?"

"A little. The city was nice enough to make up some documents for me so I can be a real citizen, but passports and stuff… that was difficult. I couldn't have done that without Inori."

"Inori has gotten super scary, don't you think? Taking over people's minds and stuff. It's like she's a villain now."

Setsuna couldn't help but imagine Inori wearing the same kind of clothes she herself had worn as Eas. _W-Wow…_ "All of us got a lot stronger." Setsuna smirked when she thought of her former comrades. "If Westar and Soular tried to fight us now, they would be in **so** over their head."

"Why'd you develop Memoria though? I thought you hated reminiscing about Eas."

"It's a tool. Eas is long gone. I just borrow her memory, her appearance and powers."

"Eas is pretty hot."

"Love!" Setsuna bumped into Love again, really hard this time around.

"But it's true! And it's not like I'm complimenting another girl! You know you're the only one I like!"

Setsuna and Love struggled back and forth a little, until Setsuna lost her balance and the two of them crashed into the tall grass at the roadside. There were no cars in sight, so walking on the edge of the street had been fine.

"You like Eas' looks better than mine?"

"Hm. No. Or more… Eas is super sexy. Setsuna is very cute. Passion is incredibly beautiful. Each has their charm point!"

"You Casanova," Setsuna said, lying in the grass, Love beside her.

"You like different things about me and Peach, too, don't you?"

"No!"

" **R-e-a-l-l-y**?"

"M-Maybe..."

"Oh, what?"

"Peach… is sexier than you."

"It's the outfit, isn't it?"

"I liked your original one too but… this one is just..."

"Kinda adult?"

"Don't make it sound so lewd."

"It took me a long time to figure out I could change the way I look as Peach! Although I didn't even change that much. Different skirt, no fluffy shoulder things, not as many frills; I'm not 14 anymore, I figured a makeover was overdue!"

"I didn't really change anything."

"Yes you did!"

"Really? What did I change?"

"You're just testing me now. You did away with the hair wing things, you removed a bunch of frills on your arm coats, and you added a big card suit symbol on the back of your skirt. And your hair comes together right above your butt."

"You only saw me in my new outfit once!"

"What kind of pathetic girlfriend would I be if I didn't have my eyes all over you." Love smirked proudly and sat up. "I still don't understand why you went with that fighting style, though."

"I'm good with spatial stuff..." Setsuna sat up as well and put her index fingers together, moving her hands back and forth. "Inori got really, really fast and she's even picked up a weapon. Miki is really good at using her powers to enhance her strength and-"

"Oh, Miki doesn't actually enhance her strength. It's more like Ki, you know, that stuff martial artists are said to have? It's like that. Miki-chan is Miki Chan now!"

"And you're good at everything you try… so I looked really hard in what I was good at and it was teleporting, so I trained around that."

"Miki kept saying that all that training is cutting into her time to dance and stuff, but I think she trained harder than any of us."

"I do agree with Inori that developing our powers was the right call. Labyrinth is probably not the only other world out there."

"Yeah, we're in a different world right now! People that look like humans but speak an alien tongue! Money that is super strange! Food we have never seen before! Even this grass feels totally different than the grass in Japan!"

"It's just grass, Love." Setsuna got up and patted down her jeans. A skirt was just not practical on a trip like this, although she did have one in her luggage. Scratching her right shoulder, Setsuna really wanted some bug repellant spray.

"Something get you?"

"Looks like it. It really itches..."

"The more you scratch the more it will itch." Love got up and grabbed both of Setsuna's hands. "You'll go crazy tonight. No more scratching, okay?"

"Cure Passion defeated by bugs… Inori would laugh at me."

"Remember when Inori didn't come to school last year for two days because she was down with a summer cold?"

"If you bring that up now, that means it has something to do with bugs."

"She actually left her window open and was devoured by bugs and ended up scratching all night. Miki told me a few days later."

"You think there is something between them?"

"What, Miki and Inori?" Love burst into laughing. "No! Totally not! They're good friends, but they'd never date! I don't think either of them even likes girls."

"You're laughing way too hard, Love."

Love calmed down. "I just suddenly had to imagine Inori trying to kiss Miki. You know Miki would be too proud to bend down and Inori would just stand there, on her toes, desperately trying to reach Miki and-"

Setsuna snorted and quickly covered her mouth in embarrassment. _Imagining it was much funnier than I thought._ "Inori, you and I are basically all the same height, so all of us would be totally standing on our toes."

"See? It's funny!"

Setsuna brushed some of the grass off Love's jeans and t-shirt. "You're all dirty now."

"I think grass is the least of our problems. We probably smell like three days without shower."

"I'm glad I don't have long hair like Miki."

"That would be hell to take care of while on the road."

"We should go, Love. It won't be dark for a while, but-" Setsuna was interrupted by her own stomach growling. And just a moment later, Love's stomach growled as well. "I'm… hungry."

"I could eat a bear."

"They probably don't have that."

"Probably?"

"I-I don't know if they have bears in Indonesia."

"Even if they do, I don't think they eat them." _I love her face when she doesn't know something. It's so cute_.Love looked ahead at the town. "That doesn't really look that different from towns in Japan."

"What were you imagining?" _She says that every time. It's kind of endearing how she expects a wonderland to open up_ _whenever we get to a new place._ "Not all the places will be small villages with wooden huts and old houses made from white stone."

"I know that!" Love didn't let her disappointment show on her face. A new place to experience was still magical, even if not so literally.

"Before we get into town… Love, no transforming! Absolutely no transforming."

"Eh? But-"

"No buts either. I can't believe you forgot the trouble we got into in the Philippines because you had to stop some bank robbers. I mean.. I get that you want to help and it was the right thing to do… but think about our situation! We can trust the people in Clover Town to keep our secret, but out here, that's a different thing."

"They'll just think we're cosplayers!"

"Cosplayers that can jump a hundred meters into the air, smash buildings to pieces, teleport and take away someone's special skills. Not to mention the magical energy we throw around."

"Buzzkill." Setsuna started to pout and Love quickly revised her statement. "Okay, no transforming."

=== Between Love and Passion ===

"Shouldn't we help?" Love and Setsuna were among the onlookers of an active crime scene.

Setsuna hesitated. The police seemed a bit outmatched and people's lives were on the line. "I'm coming with you."

"I knew you would." Love took Setsuna's hand and pulled her away from the chaos.

Police had surrounded a bank that was being robbed. Eight armed people and fifteen hostages were inside. Setsuna knew this because she overheard foreigners, English tourists, talking about it and she had studied up on English very hard for the purpose of making use of it on this trip.

Not five minutes later, dozens of civilians and two dozen police personnel witnessed a woman in red appearing out of thin air just in front of the bank, princess carrying another woman in pink. She was only visible for an instant and was then gone again.

The first of the robbers came flying through the locked glass doors of the bank, back first, already unconscious. The red-clad woman appeared again, dropping two more of the criminals right in front of the police car before disappearing again. A fourth robber flew out of the doors with such force that he crashed into a parked police car and someone shouted something Japanese from inside the bank. Then there was a lot of gunfire for a few seconds. Then; silence. Moments later, the hostages came running out of the building, unharmed.

"Peach, you threw that one guy way too hard." Passion stood in a small back alley, right where they had left their bags for just a few minutes "They're just human. You can't fight them like you fought Eas."

"I already said sorry! He looked really heavy and I just… kinda..."

Passion turned back into Setsuna and hoped that nobody would ask too many questions about what had just transpired.

"Aw, I love the way you look as Passion too."

"That kinda sounds perverted..."

"Hey!"

"Just kidding."

" **Hey**!"

"We shouldn't let this become a habit, Love."

"I know, I know." Peach turned back into Love as well and felt a bit disappointed. She enjoyed being Cure Peach and using her power to help people. They did so all the time back in Clover Town. Visitors or traveling people were always told it was just a local filming gag. "So what now?"

"We find a place to stay for tonight. And then we look for some temp work."

"If mom knew we were doing some under the table work for a day or two to get paid in cash to continue traveling, she'd be mad."

"I think we're old enough to not worry about that anymore."

"She's still my mom."

"She is basically my mom, too, but that doesn't mean we have to tell her everything we do on this trip."

"I don't know how I feel about keeping secrets from her."

"You kept us a secret."

"That's different. That is just a temporary secret!"

"It's not like we do anything bad. Helping out in a kitchen, waiting tables, it's all proper work. So I guess you can tell her, but I don't come to bed complaining that she got mad at you."

"You talk like we're married."

"We live together, we're s-sleeping together, we might as well be."

"And we fight crime together!"

"Sssh!"

"Do you ever think there are maybe other Cures out there?"

"Probably not. I don't think something like that would stay a secret."

"We're a secret."

Setsuna smiled. "I guess you're right. If they are out there, I'd like to meet them."

"Hey, maybe if they are out there, there is someone like you."

"Someone from Labyrinth?" Setsuna took Love's hand and slowly lead her out of the alley now. She wanted to find a place to stay soon. She really needed a shower. Transforming into Passion didn't make her normal form any cleaner.

"No, I mean- Someone who switched sides."

"Those were some really special circumstances, Love."

"Being a Cure is a pretty special circumstance too."

 _I can't argue with that_. "Maybe. It would be nice to find someone like that."

"Imagine if she was also into girls."

"She?"

"Someone like you."

"You're getting too unrealistic now."

"Hm, you think so?"

"Even if there are other Cures out there, and that is a really big if, there would have to be a lot of them for us to find one that likes girls."

"You know, I've been thinking about this… a Cure dating a guy or a regular person? I mean, if she gives up on being a Cure, maybe, but I can't imagine that being easy either."

"Now that you say that..." _I wonder if this is because of that… what was his name? Daisuke?_ "Whatever happened to that guy that confessed to you?"

"Daisuke? I don't know actually."

"You didn't stay in touch?"

"Wouldn't that be weird? He confessed to me, but I didn't feel the same way. Leading him on would just be cruel."

"I was honestly surprised you didn't feel the same way. You looked like you would get along well together."

"As friends, sure. But… hm… I am pretty sure I only like girls. I mean, I only ever liked you. I'm also pretty sure I was already crushing on you by the time he confessed so me, so it was kinda like _Oh, I get it now. I like Setsuna like this_. But I couldn't tell him that."

"You're almost too nice."

The city of Bandung really came to live after six in the evening and the streets were packed. Nobody paid really any attention to two Japanese girls and there are a lot of tourists, which surprised Setsuna. A cheap motel was found within twenty minutes after Setsuna made extensive use of her English to Indonesian dictionary, which she had picked up the moment they arrived in Manado via boat from the Philippines. The motel was one that was nearly built, so it had small bathrooms for each room.

Love just threw her sack on the single bed and immediately started taking off her yellow t-shirt. Setsuna was so used to this by now that it didn't even warrant any real reaction. Love was down to her underwear already when Setsuna started undressing as well. There was only one shower room and neither of them wanted to wait.

The bathroom only had a shower, no tub, which at least made for a slightly larger shower than usual. Love was in first and turned on the hot water first, then added cold water to get the temperature down so it was refreshing but not freezing. Standing naked in the shower, Love was already soaked when she realized she had forgotten to take off her hair ties. Stepping back out, getting water all over the floor, Love just hastily took off the ties, put them on the sink and jumped back into the shower.

Setsuna had at least enough insight into Love's personality to bring two towels to the bathroom. The two girls could communicate without saying anything. Love noticed Setsuna's shadow and moved to the wall of the shower, making space for her girlfriend to get in as well. It had taken more than a month of being on the road for Setsuna to get used to being naked like this in front of Love. She was still embarrassed by it, and it showed on her face a little, but she could deal with that.

Love turned up the water temperature a bit and Setsuna was really glad to finally get the sweat off of her and out of her hair. _She always turns up the water a little for me because I like it hot, even if it's hot outside._ "Thanks."

"That's why I get in first. To cool down. Did you see shampoo anywhere?"

"Only soap."

"I guess we have to bring shampoo ourselves." Love grabbed the soap that was placed just outside the shower and grinned a little. "Turn around, I'll soap your back."

"You mean wash my back." Setsuna turned and nearly jumped out of the shower when she felt the cold soap on her back. "Cold!"

"Oh." Love stopped and held the soap under the warm water for a little bit before continuing. "This better?"

"Thanks again."

"You don't need to keep thanking me for this stuff." Scrubbing Setsuna's back, Love finished quickly and put the soap down. While her partner's back was still slick and slippery, Love put her arms around Setsuna's waist, using her breasts to rub her back. "How does this feel?" Whispering to Setsuna, Love had been waiting all day for this. When they were at home, they could only be intimate when they were all alone and there was not a lot of time for that. They couldn't bathe together either.

Setsuna didn't answer, just slightly leaning backwards, enjoying the soft and slippery sensations on her back. Moaning just a little bit with her mouth still closed, Setsuna felt Love's embrace tighten up, the rubbing getting a little speedier. _She really loves it when she hears me moan. Such a strange favorite to have._ Setsuna tensed up for just an instant when Love started nibbling on her wet ear with just her lips. "Wanna do it?"

Instead of responding, Setsuna really wasn't the type to talk much while they were amorously engaged, she put her right hand on top of Love's and slowly lead her hand downwards. Love's other hand went right for her breasts, moving up and down over them, Setsuna's breasts molded under her touch. The next moan that came from her was with her mouth wide open and then another; Love had started playing, rubbing, with her nipples.

Instead of getting off Setsuna like they were now, Love backed away just enough for Setsuna to turn around, knowing exactly that Love preferred to see her face - and to kiss her. Setsuna just stood there for a long moment, her arms slowly moving around Love's waist, her right leg lightly raised, standing on her toes, to put her thigh right where Love liked it.

 _The water pearling off Love's lips… it looks so erotic._ Setsuna leaned in for a kiss and was slightly put off when Love misunderstood and went for her neck instead. Her disappointment didn't last long. As much as she wanted to share a kiss with Love, the sensations on her neck more than made up for it. They got more intense and still more after that until Setsuna forced Love to back off by twisting her head towards her. _I bet she left a mark…_ Getting the kiss she longed for in revenge, Setsuna lead for the first few seconds but then succumbed to Love's fervor and passion. Their bodies clashing much like their lips, both of them started to feel lightheaded pretty soon.

"Love… I think I need to get out. I'm dizzy..." Setsuna felt terrible for breaking off what they were doing.

"It's fine… the shower is spinning a little for me too." Love kissed Setsuna one final time and then turned off the water. Stepping out of the shower after her girlfriend, Love slipped on the wet floor, which she had been the cause of by stepping out earlier, and was luckily caught by Setsuna. "Thanks." Love smiled happily.

 _I'm so… unsatisfied now…_ Setsuna felt really hungry, now that the excitement of sex was wearing off.

"How about..." Love hugged Setsuna from behind, with a towel over her own head. "I'll go out and find us something from a food stall real quick and when I come back… we don't worry about jobs tonight and just enjoy ourselves."

"Sometimes I ask myself if you can read my mind." Setsuna briefly rubbed her own hair with a towel. "I feel bad for making you run off alone. You don't speak **any** Indonesian."

"Dua Silakan!"

"That doesn't count." Setsuna couldn't help but laugh.

"It's enough to get something from a food stall." Love was just not very good with other languages. "If there are other Cures out there, you'll have to translate for me!"

"If there are, I'll do."

Love let go, quickly rubbed herself dry and gave Setsuna a seductive look before rushing back into the bedroom, dragging new clothes out of her bag. Love was already dressed, with her hair still down, when Setsuna came to the bedroom. "Love." Throwing the hair ties to her girlfriend, Setsuna returned the seductive smile.

"What 'd I do without you?" Putting the hair ties where they belonged, Love pocketed some money out of Setsuna's bag and nearly stormed out of the place.

Only twenty minutes later, Setsuna was barely all dry, the two of them were on the roof of the motel. They had used the fire escape ladder outside to get there with their take out; ketoprak, something Love absolutely couldn't pronounce right but the two of them enjoyed either way.

"Can you believe they sell something this good for just eight thousand rupee?" Love found it interesting to eat this food, consisting of sliced tofu, steamed rice cake, sliced cabbage and cucumber, bean sprouts and peanut sauce, topped with krupuk and fried shallots.

"Rupiah. That's like… 70 yen. You couldn't get anything like this back home for 70 yen."

"Between this and the hotel, I don't think finding some work here is gonna do us much good. If we wait until we get to Singapore, we'll have to stay for a week or two, but it'll make a lot more sense for travel money."

"You just want to go sightseeing."

"Hey," Love complained, with her mouth stuffed full of fried tofu.

"I'm just kidding."

"Bully."

"Says the girl that beat me into submission to become her girlfriend." Setsuna chuckled.

"I couldn't have anyone else snatch the lovely Setsuna and Eas away from me."

"Thinking back on it… it's so embarrassing to walk around in those clothes." Setsuna sat there with her legs crossed, dish on her lap. Putting her fork down, she hid her embarrassed face in shame. "All that leather.. and it was showing off so much skin."

"It was super sexy. I thought that even before I fell for you."

"Liar. You only thought about saving people. I know you." Setsuna spread her fingers and glanced at Love through the gaps. "Really? You thought it was sexy?"

"Still do. Your white hair, the black leather… it is still sexy."

"You like Eas better than me?"

"Hmm..." Love paused eating and leaned backwards a little, sitting next to Setsuna, also with her legs crossed. "I like all three parts of you for different reasons. Eas is sexy. Setsuna is cute. Passion is beautiful. And hey, how many times are you gonna make me say that in one day?"

"I don't get tired of you complimenting me."

"Cure Shrewd."

"Hey, I like my name."

"I do, too. I'm just peachy with- hey, hey, stop!" Love laughed when Setsuna playfully punched her shoulder, not hard enough to even qualify as trying to hurt her, but it was certainly enough to make the dish on her lap shake dangerously. "I have to go return the plates. Probably."

"I'll go with you. I don't know how you even managed to come back without spilling anything."

"Playing waitress in the Philippines made me learn so many things."

"Like how to hit on other waitresses."

"I did not do that!"

" **Really**?"

"Cure Jealous."

"Of course I'd be jealous if you hit on other girls. I'll never find someone like you again."

"I would never leave you for someone else. I can't even imagine dating someone else." Love paused and smiled. _If she fell for Miki or Inori, I'd do anything I can to make that work between the three of us, though. But I won't tell her that. She'll just worry._

Eating in peace while watching the busy streets below, Love finished first. "I hope mom doesn't worry about us."

"I send her text messages whenever I find an open wireless." Setsuna was glad she had invested in a smartphone before the trip, even if it had been expensive. "The internet here isn't good enough for skype though."

"We've only been away for three weeks. She knows that between us two there is nothing we can't handle."

"You mean between us four. You, me, Peach and Passion."

"You're not including Eas?"

"You keep bringing her up. You're just full of lewd thoughts."

"I can't help it if my girlfriend is so tempting at all times."

"Your head is just full of naughty stuff."

"Maybe." Love grinned and noticed that Setsuna's dish was the same as it had been two or three minutes ago. "Are you full?"

"You want the rest?"

"If you feed it to me."

"Sometimes I wonder where this spoiled attitude comes from."

"Miki would totally make fun of me if she saw this." Love let Setsuna feed her pieces of tofu.

"I think so too." Feeding Love the leftovers of her food, Setsuna put the dish on the warm stone floor next to her. "Miki has gotten really beautiful. Not the way we talk about each other, but… She's tall, she's got a super figure, she's fit and everything."

"Miki was always taller than the rest of us, but she really left us behind. Especially Inori." Love snorted. "I had to think about those two trying to kiss again."

"I'll tell Inori about this."

"Inori was always the cute one among us. I really like that she grew her hair out to the same length we got."

"We're all the same height, too. Or very close at least."

"You wear heels or boots so often, it's hard to tell you're only as tall as I am."

"I don't wear them **that** often. And you said you like it when I do!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to say you wearing them was a bad thing. When all four of us get together it's hard for Inori and me. You with boots and Miki, Inori and I look like we still go to middle school like that."

"A really beautiful, busty middle schooler you are." Setsuna giggled when she saw Love's flushed face. "What, you say stuff like that all the time?"

"Calling me beautiful just kinda… made me embarrassed."

"So Love can be embarrassed too?" Setsuna moved a little to the side and leaned against her girlfriend. "At first I couldn't believe you when you suggested traveling around the world, or at least most of Asia, right the instant we graduate."

"Miki is working two jobs, Inori is studying to be a vet but already working at her family's clinic. I figured it would be strange for just us two to go to college. I don't even know yet what to make out of my life."

"Seeing all sorts of people, their jobs and other places was a good idea and I'm glad I came with you. I would have never figured out that I have a knack for languages otherwise."

"Is Indonesian really hard?"

"Kinda." Setsuna put her hand on top of Love's. "But it's still interesting."

"You know, I really hope there are other Cures out there. Maybe in China or South Korea. Or even Europe! I always wanted to go visit Europe!"

"Europe is a long, long way from here. It's gonna take us months to get there without a plane."

"As long as we find work, we can survive."

"If we go north from Jakarta, past Palembang, we can get to Singapore by boat. Then into Malaysia, through Kuala Lumpur, north to the southern peninsula of Thailand-"

"We should visit Hong Kong and Taiwan."

"That's back in the direction of Japan."

"So… you don't wanna?"

"I'll go wherever you lead me, Love."

"Let's add _look for the existence of other Cures_ to our travel list."

"You're really taken a liking to that idea."

"It would be so cool."

"What if they're not friendly?"

"That can't be. Cures are good people."

"But they're still people. Miki, Inori and I had you, but if other Cures do exist, they might not even have a leader. What if one of them even died?"

"Setsuna, you're too dark." Love squeezed her partner's hand a little. "Positive, you gotta think positive. Imagine if I thought like that and just let Eas be."

"You're right. I'm glad you're stubborn."

"Hey."

"You are. You chased after me so valiantly."

"I couldn't just leave you. I knew you were a good person."

"You're like one of those heroes in fairytale stories."

"Now you're exaggerating."

"I feel that way at least."

"I love you, Setsuna."

"What brought this on?"

"I can't just say it?"

"I love you too, Love. It's just strange to say it randomly like that."

Turning her head to the side, Love closed her eyes and kissed Setsuna. Not strongly, passionately, or gently, romantically, but the way only a couple that had been together for a while could kiss; casually and with a smile on their lips after.

"You've gotten better at kissing."

"Does that mean I was bad before?"

Setsuna shook her head. "No. Well, maybe a little."

"You never said anything!"

"You weren't bad! Just… maybe a little clumsy."

"Oho… so where did you get your kissing expertise from? Was there someone in Labyrinth?"

"I'll tell you only if you promise not to get mad. You can get mad at **me** , but-"

"Do you really think I'd get mad at you?" Love's smile was more disarming than anything else in the world.

"Miki and I were studying really hard for tests with Inori. You were doing a part-time job at the time. Our heads were smoking, so Miki went to buy some energy drinks. She was so tired that she didn't read the labels, and it turned out there was a good shot of alcohol in them. Inori was sound asleep ten minutes after downing one of those small brown bottles, but Miki and I… we ended up a bit drunk and after talking about her lack of romance in life, Miki came on to me and we ended up experimenting a bit."

"So; is Miki a good kisser?"

"She's awful." Setsuna sighed. "I really mean it. We kissed another time a few days later because we thought we had a thing for each other, but it was just being tired from studying and a bit drunk. And she was still really bad at it."

"Did you have to stand on your toes?"

"I did. A little."

"I wonder if I should ask Miki about this."

"Don't bully Miki."

"I think she's tough enough to handle some embarrassing questions. A model has to be able to deal with that."

"Working as a model at that age is amazing."

"I couldn't do it. No way. I'm not tall enough anyway." Love chuckled and waved her free hand in front of her face.

"I remember reading about a model that looked quite a bit like Miki and she worked as one while still in high school. She was in that fashion magazine that Miki always reads." Setsuna closed her eyes and tried to remember the name. "Ku… I know her name started with Ku… Kumiko? No… I think it was her last name."

"You really hate it when you can't remember."

"It just bugs me. I have good memory otherwise."

"Why don't you send Miki a text? She probably knows."

"I tried talking to her about her before, and Miki just said she isn't interested in what the competition does."

"That sounds like Miki."

"She's also been so busy lately, I don't think she has time to go and look through old magazines."

"I still can't believe you two kissed. After we laughed so much about her and Inori trying to kiss, too."

"It was a long time ago, geez."

"Maybe you have a thing for blue themed Cures."

"This again? Even if there are other Cures out there, they might not even have different colors. Or they might look completely different from us."

"Like suits?"

"Suits?"

"Like, formal suits that men wear. Tuxedos and such. Dandy Cures!"

Setsuna broke out into an in-between of laughter and giggling. "L-Love, there's no way such a thing exists!"

"Who knows! It might! There could be all sorts of Cures and we just don't know. Like, themed after flowers! Or magical elements!"

"You really have an active imagination."

"If we ever meet any blue Cures, I am going not going to let go of your hand!"

"I am never going to hear the end of this. I shouldn't have told you."

"If I had to pick between Miki and Inori I would go with Miki, too."

"I didn't- Love, you bully!"

"You're cute even when you get mad."

"Love, I think you should go return the dishes."

"Aw, you're really mad?"

"Stupid." Setsuna gently bumped her head against Love's shoulder. "Who could get seriously mad at you?"

"People do all the time."

"They look that way to make you give it a rest."

"I'm the one getting bullied then!"

"What a strange way to be bullied. Love, the dishes, the stall owner probably wants to get home, too."

"Okay, okay." Getting up, Love grabbed both dishes and quickly squatted down to kiss Setsuna on the lips, before she left.

"I really expected her to be mad about Miki." Setsuna leaned all the way back, hands behind her head. Lying flat on the roof, she really felt happy, privileged even, to be able to travel with Love. _Ah… I think I used up ten lifetimes worth of luck being saved by her. Maybe… I should be nice and be Eas for tonight_.

=== Between Love and Passion ===

Ten days after Bandung, Love and Setsuna had spent three days in Jakarta to go sightseeing, the couple had passed Cilegon and gotten a free boat ride out of helping around the harbor. Going north, they also passed Palembang and went through the middle of the tropical forest, with barely any civilization for hours. Their ultimate goal was to get across the isles east of Pekanbaru with minimal spending. And now they were in the middle of it. Getting all the way to Pulau Sugibawah, a sparsely inhabited island directly south of Singapore, the two were taking a break there.

Setsuna had gotten good enough at Indonesian that she was able to convince a fisherman to give them an old two people rowboat he didn't need anymore for about a thousand and five hundred yen. It did it's job still well enough to get from one isle to another.

Floating in the water, right next to the boat, Love was wearing just the swimsuit that had seen better days by now. "Setsuna..."

"What?" A voice came from the other side of the boat.

"Is it ever not hot here?"

"It's the tropics, Love. Bandung and Jakarta were like this too."

"It wasn't **that** hot there."

"It might be a few degrees hotter here."

"Do you think it would be any better if I transformed, stripped and put my swimsuit on?"

There was a very long moment of silence, only disturbed by the sound of the rain forest, the shallow waves and the creaking of the boat. "You can try."

 _She wants to see Peach in a swimsuit._ Love smiled to herself. "You wanna see, don't you?"

"No."

"Okay then."

A few minutes passed and Setsuna slowly came floating around the boat, on her back, just barely seeing Love float the same way up ahead. "… Maybe..."

"Maybe what?"

"Maybe I wanna see."

"I wanna see too."

Setsuna turned over in the way and was now floating vertically. "You're thinking of doing something lewd."

"Transforming and then stripping, only to put on swimsuits is already really lewd." Love snickered. "But that's what couples do; lewd stuff."

"What if someone sees us?"

"Out here? We're in the middle of a big lagoon. The ocean, kinda."

"I guess you're right."

There were trees growing out of shallow water and rock formations just about everywhere. It was exactly the kind of wonderland that Love had always expected. They had been floating just nearby one such formation of trees and Setsuna was climbing up the roots, lost her footing and crashed back into the water.

When she came up, Love was already there to worry about her. "Are you okay?"

"Just a bit of salt water." Getting into the boat required paying attention but not much else. "Don't peek!"

"I see you naked all the time."

"But not when I'm changing!"

Love dove under the boat and came up on the other side, slowly floating away. _I'm lucky I snatched that rope. We would have to constantly watch the boat if we didn't have something to tie it to a tree or something._

She saw the light of Setsuna transforming and then the boat shook a little as she struggled to undress properly. The clothes were part of her persona as Cure Passion, so they stayed in the boat while she was actually transformed. "Don't look!" Passion covered herself with her discarded clothes when Love was looking in her general direction.

 _She's so cute. I can't stop thinking about how cute she behaves when she's in new and strange situations_. Adjusting the direction in which she was floating, Love just listened for the sounds that passion was making.

 _This feels so strange… being in this form and not in my dress._ _But… it's exciting too. And Love is going to like it._ Checking that her swimsuit sat right, Passion raised her voice. "Love!"

Switching to vertical floating, Love swam back towards the boat with a few strong strokes and looked at her girlfriend. "Oh, now that is pretty sexy."

"It doesn't… look weird?"

"It's hot."

Jumping into the water, Passion experienced swimming as a Cure to be quite different. "I could probably swim all the way to Singapore like this."

"Let's not." Love swam up to her partner. "But we could stay like this and get some distance with the boat by rowing."

"I can't believe I am going to say this, but; yes, let's do that."

"Later. Now it's my turn." Love swam towards the tree to which the boat was towed and climbed into the boat. "Feel free to look."

"Cure Pervert."

"It even starts with the same sound." Love joked, took off her swimsuit and transformed. "You know, my outfit is basically all pink, so you could say I'm a pink Cure?"

 _You definitely make other people see the world through pink colored lenses when you're by their side._ "That seems a bit silly, referring to you like that."

"Yes, but imagine if there are like, ten more of us. Or twenty. And if there are other Cures that have mostly pink costumes."

"Love, you still haven't let go of that idea?"

"Never!" Peach had finished stripping. Passion was intentionally looking away and only glancing towards Peach from the corner of her eye.

"I can't imagine there would be another Cure Peach, so just use your name."

"You would be a red Cure."

"Love, are you listening?"

"I am, I am. How did you put on anything? My hair is in the way."

"You need to reach under your hair."

Peach finished and stood exactly where Passion had stood before her. "So, how do I look?"

"Sexy."

"Just sexy? Not very sexy?"

"Very sexy."

One loud splash later, Peach swam towards her partner that was now back in the water. "This is kind of weird."

"Yes."

"But it's fun." Peach dove down. The water was only about two to four meters deep around these parts, which barely qualified as a swimming pool. Reaching the ground, she kicked herself off the ocean floor and shot upwards, out of the water and a few meters high in the air. _W-Wow… the view is amazing._ "Passion! You need to try-" Peach's words were consumed by a loud splosh. Coming back up to the surface, Peach shook her head. "It didn't hurt, but I got saltwater into my mouth."

"You're like a little girl whenever you discover something new."

"If you jump up, the view is amazing. The green rock pillars, the crystal clear water, the tree lagoons, it's amazing!"

"To use our powers for something like this..."

"We earned it. We saved Labyrinth and we kept training just in case! And we help around town all the time."

"It's hard to argue if you say it like that." Setsuna didn't have to actually _jump_. She could just _move_ herself up. The water experienced a sudden hole where Passion had been and the resulting convergence created a small splash. A few meters up in the air was Passion, taking in the scenery. _She was right. This is really beautiful._ _The sea is crystal clear and you can see all the beauty beneath the water like this_.

Instead of falling back down, Passion just moved herself to the boat, lost her balance and fell backwards out of the vehicle and into the water. Coming up, Passion didn't look so happy. "Bleh… I got saltwater into my mouth, too."

"I wonder what it would taste like if we kissed now."

"Salty."

Peach chuckled and felt a drop of water on her head. Then another. Then dozens and dozens. By the time she looked up, the sky that had been a light blue just moments ago was now covered in clouds that had come out of nowhere. And in an instant, clear, sunny weather turned into a downpour of epic proportions.

"It's warm. I don't think we have to- Passion?" Peach looked around and found her partner in the boat, having teleported up there. "What are you doing?"

"Our bags are not waterproof!"

"Oh. **Oh**!" Peach quickly moved towards the tree and climbed on it. "Throw them over! Then flip over the boat! We'll pull it over the roots so we have cover!"

With their Cure powers, doing so was a piece of cake. Peach carried the bags and lodged them firmly between the roots, half a meter above the water, and then pulled in the boat that Passion had flipped over. It was not big enough to sit beneath it, but their bags would not get soaking wet.

"I don't mind the rain, but that was really sudden."

"It's the tropics. It happens."

"What do we do now?"

"Wait. Tropical showers usually don't last long."

"I thought we could spend the night out here, but I'm actually pretty thirsty now and we don't have that much bottled water left."

"We should get to Pulau Sugi at least, the next island. There's a small village called Sugi where we could get water at least."

"I would totally be lost without you."

"In so many ways."

"Hey!"

Both of them laughed, sitting on top of the wooden boat, not too bothered by the warm rain that was hammering down on them.

=== Between Love and Passion ===

"I'm pooped!" Love was lying flat on her back, her head resting on Setsuna's lap. "I didn't know waiting tables could be this tiring."

"You're doing great though. You even got tips."

"How are we, money-wise?"

"We got together quite a lot actually. It really helped that the pirates we turned over to the authorities had a bounty on their head."

"Just wait until we tell Miki and Inori that we captured real life pirates."

"Your mom will probably be really mad because it's dangerous."

"We're Cures. They would need some pretty heavy weapons to hurt us."

"I don't think a parent thinks that way." Setsuna poked Love's cheek. "But I've given up on telling you to not stick your nose in everyone's business."

"We couldn't just let pirates roam around."

Setsuna poked Love's cheek a few more times. "You're right. But something tells me you keep thinking that if we just do enough good deeds as Cures, _other Cures_ , if they exist, will notice us."

"What if they're older than us? Like, ten years or so. Imagine what they could teach us."

"The idea of a twenty-eight year old Cure feels strange."

"Maybe they only became a Cure as adult."

"It's kinda strange how all four of us were basically the same age when we became Cures."

"I got a few months on you." Love smirked.

"Oh, you think you're stronger than me?"

"I totally am! I beat Eas, too!"

"Barely!"

"I admit your teleporting could be a problem. It's actually really unfair!"

"I don't know if I could even hit you hard enough to get through your protection."

"Well, we all trained to cover each other's weaknesses."

"But we don't have anyone that is good at long range."

"Inori can handle that."

"She did get unbelievably fast."

"You think she can run over water?"

"We might be magical girls but we don't live in a manga world, Love."

"Boo."

"Do you want to go out?"

"We're already going out."

"Stupid."

"Where do you wanna go?"

"The Gardens by the Bay."

"Sounds just a **little** boring."

"We don't-"

"Silly, you think I would be bored if I go anywhere with you?"

"You're such a tease."

"When do you want to go?"

"When is your next shift off?"

"Sunday."

"Then we go on Sunday."

"Are you sure you don't want me to just skip a shift?"

"I'm working too."

"How is it going by the way?"

"I've gotten pretty good at Mandarin. I picked up a bit of Malay, too."

"Sounds like you're enjoying yourself."

"It beats waiting tables or other under the table jobs by a lot."

"You're really lucky they just hired you on the spot without question."

"And I thought I had used up all my luck by getting you as my girlfriend."

Love blushed and smiled. "That's my line."

"I guess we're balancing each other out then."

"Did you shower already?"

"I did."

"Without me?"

"You get off work four hours after me. I was beat and stayed up because I wanted to spend some time with you. You work from twelve to eight, I work from eight to four. We barely see each other in the morning and the evening."

"It'll be better when we're back on the road. If we stay until next Wednesday, we should have plenty to through Malaysia and Thailand, right?"

"Yes. I did plot our route, sans any side trips you wanna make."

"Tell me."

"We go north through Malaysia, then Thailand. We stay a few days in Bangkok, maybe make a little money. Then we go east through Cambodia and into Vietnam and north through Vietnam to their capital, Hanoi. From there, to Hai Phong by the coast and we take a boat to Hainan. That's part of China. From there, we take a boat to Hong Kong and we're going to have to stay there for a week or two to make some money to get to Taiwan."

"How far is it to South Korea from there?"

"Quite a distance by boat. Okinawa is right next to Taiwan actually, so if you want to go back to Japan for a bit-"

"We should. A few days, maybe. We can go from island to island, north until we Kumamoto and Nagasaki. South Korea is close by, right?"

"Much, much closer than Taiwan."

"So what if we go to South Korea then through China again and visit Beijing."

"China is a little difficult to travel around in. We're not one hundred percent in the clear just visiting Hainan the way we're going to, but if we don't cause any trouble, we shouldn't get into trouble either."

"In case of emergency, we can just transform and make a dash for it."

"Love..."

"It's an experience!"

"Not one I absolutely want to go through."

"Where should we go from China?"

"It would be a really, almost absurdly, long road to the middle east, but it isn't too far to Mongolia. It's not a popular country and it only has close to three million people living there."

"How do you know?"

"I looked it up on the internet the other day because I thought you might wanna go there."

"What about Russia?"

"Russia can be an interesting place, but under the current president things are really, really bad for gay people."

"If nobody catches us, we'll be fine. And even if they catch us, we can-"

"Transform and make a dash for it. Love, that can't be your solution to everything."

"I know that not every land and town is like Clover Town. And we're traveling, so I don't have the time to make them understand."

"I'm glad you understand that."

"What if we take an airplane?"

"That's really expensive. And where?"

"Back to Thailand, and this time we go west."

"If we want to do that, we should definitely fly from South Korea. Going to mainland China is just not a good idea."

"We'll do that. You think we can make enough money in Taiwan, Okinawa and South Korea?"

"We do have some savings in our bank accounts we could get to while we're back in Japan."

"I feel like the protagonist of _Around the World in Eighty Days._ "

"What's that?"

"A novel from over a century ago. It's about a man and his assistant that attempt to get around the entire world in eighty days with… I forgot how much money it was. It was a good amount. They start in London and they go east."

"Things are probably a lot easier today."

"It's still an adventure!"

"You really love being on an adventure."

"Only because you're with me. I probably would have come home already if you didn't come with me. I couldn't do all of this on my own. And I'd die of loneliness without you."

Setsuna blushed intensely. "You really know how to flatter a girl."

"But it's true. I mean every word of it."

"I know. I'd be really lonely without you, too."

"You could ask Miki- ow!" Love's cheek was flicked by her girlfriend.

"I knew you were mad about that."

"I'm just teasing you a bit."

"You meanie. So what are we gonna do tonight?"

"Go out, eat something, come back and crawl into bed?"

"You really like eating."

"You make me sound like a glutton."

"Love… you **are** a glutton."

"Busted." Love smirked. "But the food is good. And there's so many things I never tried!"

"At least you still eat the things you don't like."

"We paid for it, so I gotta eat it."

"Now you sound like an adult."

"Are you saying I usually don't sound like an adult?"

"An adult that is a bit on the idealistic side."

"I told you I can't help it when I see people that really need help."

"It's not a bad quality. I love that trait of yours."

Love rolled off Setsuna's lap and then off the bed entirely. "Do you wanna change clothes?" Being in Singapore had some advantages. Being able to easy do laundry at a nearby laundry shop, for example. And they had picked up some really cheap but nice clothes from the local open market, too. "We could wear those china dresses we bought. What were they called?"

"Cheongsam." Setsuna was ever helpful. "If we're going out after dark, we should dress up a little, you're right."

"Do you want-"

"Love, it was one thing to transform and dress up when we were in the middle of a lagoon with nobody around. Doing it in the middle of Singapore is just asking for trouble."

"How did you even know I was going to ask you about that?"

"You have that spark in your eyes that you get when you think of something risky that you think would be fun."

"We see performers and crazy dressed up people every day. The main thing that changes is our hair only!"

"That **is** right, but-"

"And it's not like we don't have control over our powers."

"That's true, too, but-"

"And I don't think Singapore has magic detectors or something."

"Fine." Setsuna let herself be beaten. If Love wanted to do it this much, she wouldn't rain on her parade. _She is right. In a colorful city like Singapore, we probably won't really stick out. It's different in smaller towns or on the road, though_.

"If we're dressing up we should go all the way!"

"Makeup?"

Love nodded. "Lipstick, bit of eye shadow. If we're going out, I wanna show off!"

"We don't have anything like that."

"I'll pick something up tomorrow after my shift."

"You're turning into a real party girl."

"I know you'll stop me when I get too rowdy." Love smiled and transformed. "You think I should let my hair down?"

"You probably have as much hair as Passion. I think we'd look good together like that." Setsuna stayed on the bed and slightly averted her eyes so she wasn't staring that much.

"Taking this all off is a real piece of work." Love struggled a little to get out of her top and hit her knee on the bed frame. "Miki probably would have the easiest time."

"With that hair of hers? I think she'd get stuck everywhere."

"Maybe if she untangled it?"

"I don't think that's tangled up, it's just held together by her magic."

"I think she would look good with a big ponytail."

"You **really** love ponytails."

"That obvious?"

"You keep suggesting it."

"Whoops."

"I just think I wouldn't look good for it, so I don't. Miki might actually look good with it, though."

"Inori's the one that barely changes. I wonder why."

"I don't think even Inori knows. I just noticed, but when did you stop calling her Bukki?"

"A while ago. I didn't think it was fitting anymore." Peach finished putting on her cheongsam, which she had bought for barely fifteen hundred yen after conversion. "These hair ties… are… super… study..."

"Come here." Setsuna waved as she crawled towards the end of the bed. Peach sat down, with her back towards her girlfriend. "I don't think they were ever intended to be taken off. Lemme see..."

"I love you."

"This again? You've been saying that randomly a lot lately."

"It's because I love you **so** much."

"I love you too. Even when you push these silly ideas, like right now. And there we go, one is off. Now let me get the other one."

Sitting still for another minute, Peach felt strange when her hair was down on both sides. "How does it look?"

"A catastrophe. Peach is clearly not meant to let her hair down. Stay still, I'm getting your brush."

"A catastrophe? That is really mean."

"I'm going to fix it up."

"Really, what would I do without you?"

"A whole lot of silly things." Setsuna returned right to Peach's side and started brushing her hair. "It does feel good in my hands. And it's a really pretty blonde."

"It's strange that my clothes are pink, but you're the one with the pink hair."

"You're thinking too hard about this now, Peach."

"It's a bit strange to call each other by our Cure names."

Setsuna kept brushing for a while. "You're right."

"Why did we do that anyway?"

"We started that way to keep our identity a secret and we never stopped, even after it became pointless. And the townspeople also call us by our Cure names, so we just kept using them."

"I like **Setsuna** a lot more than Passion."

"What about Eas?"

"Setsuna is best."

"Thank you."

"What about Love?"

"It… does make things complicated when I think about it in English." Setsuna paused. "I love Love." Speaking in English for just that one sentence, she still kept brushing Peach's hair. "It's a bit weird. But I still love your name."

"How's my hair look like?"

"Much better. You kinda look like a blond Passion now."

"We match." Peach smiled happily.

"Not yet." Setsuna got off the bed and transformed. _I can't believe… I'm still embarrassed changing in front of her._ "Love, can you-" Setsuna stopped and giggled. Love was lying flat on her back, looking at the ceiling.

Quickly stripping down and putting on her cheongsam, Passion put her hands behind her neck and fixed a bit of hair that was stuck on her dress. "You can look."

Peach got up and a giant smile was on her face. "You look absolutely stunning."

"You do, too."

"Shall we go?" Love took Setsuna by her hand, immediately intertwining fingers. "On our first Cure date in Singapore."

=== End ===


End file.
